10. CHAPTER 10
The plane has barely landed when my phone starts ringing. I glance at the screen and grimace.
Hekate.
Knowing she won’t stop until I answer, I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Where the fuck have you been?” Hekate barks into the phone, her words and tone immediately making me feel small.
“I was—”
“We’ve been trying to contact you for the last three hours,” she snaps, not bothering to wait for my explanation. “Do you have any idea how much has been happening? Shit’s going down and you need to get here as soon as possible.”
“But I—” I try again, but in her usual fashion, she cuts me off again.
“I’ll text you the address. Be there in thirty minutes tops,” Hekate orders, then hangs up without a word of goodbye.
I stare at my phone in disbelief for the longest of moments before I roll my eyes. “Hi, sister, long time no talk. How have you been?” I mutter under my breath in a mocking voice. “Good, thanks. I’ve actually been on a work trip that I would love to tell you more about. Oh really—”
“You okay?” Jessica asks, snapping me out of my mumbled monologue.
My eyes dart to hers, my brows furrowing. “Huh?”
“You’ve been talking to yourself,” Jessica points out, a hint of worry in her voice. “Everything okay?”
“Is it Grayden?” Melissa asks before I can reply to Jessica’s question. “Because I don’t buy your story about him being called to work.”
“Same,” Jessica agrees with Melissa. “You’ve been moping around ever since we’ve left San Francisco. Talk to us, girl. What’s up?”
It’s not like I can tell them that I’m a witch and that my sister, who apparently happens to be the most fearsome leader in New York City, has summoned me for what I’m sure is a war council. No, I really can’t tell them that.
My other choice is to go with the second option that they’ll accept. I have to speak their language and have a girl talk, which is also a lie because I can’t just come out and say that I might be falling in love with a wolf. Not just any wolf, but one that comes from a powerful royal lineage.
“We had a disagreement,” I say, looking for words to tell them just enough to keep them at bay while at the same time don’t go into too much detail. In this case, vagueness is the key.
“What about?” Jessica asks as I suspected she would.
“About our families,” I offer, then continue as I follow a train of thought that can just take me to safety. “We realized that he used to date my sister.”
“Awkward,” Melissa mouths, and I nod.
“Is that why Hekate called you?” Jessica asks, not missing anything.
“Yeah,” I lie. “I had to tell her because, you know, family comes first.”
“Sisters before misters,” Melissa agrees and pumps her fist in the air.
“No way, I don’t agree with that,” Jessica argues, throwing a look at Melissa who puts her hand down. “We all know how fragile life is, right? I mean, we see it on a daily basis. With the tempo that the world’s keeping nowadays, and with the job that we do, it’s a miracle that we even have a minute to catch a breath, much less meet anyone. That’s why it’s important that when we do find happiness, we hold on to it with everything we have.”
“But Hekate...” I try to insist, but Jessica shakes her head, so I trail off.
“I don’t know your sister, but I know you,” Jessica tells me. “You’ve done a lot for her. You’ve sacrificed more than you’ve probably ever told us. It’s time that you put yourself first. It’s time for you to be happy.”
“Jessica’s right,” Melissa agrees. “We’ve known you a long time, and we can both say with one hundred percent certainty that we’ve never seen you as happy as you were yesterday with Grayden by your side.”
I need to put this to rest before they unknowingly get us all into gigantic trouble. The problem is that I can’t exactly say anything bad about Grayden to get them to hate him, because even though he’s a wolf, I actually believe he could be one of the good ones.
“I should talk to Hekate first to clear things up,” I tell them, bailing myself out like a coward. “In fact, I might as well grab a taxi to see her right away.”
“That’s a good idea,” Melissa tells me. “The sooner you get that over with, the sooner you can call Grayden.”
“Call us if you need anything,” Jessica says and leans forward to give me a hug before we all depart from the plane. They insist on taking my suitcase, which I’m grateful for because, with everything that’s going on, I’m worried that I’d lose it somewhere along the way.
True to my word, I flag down a taxi. I give him the address to the laundromat that my sister’s been using lately. While she believes it’s giving her a good cover, I think that she’s been binge-watching too many episodes of The Sopranos.
The laundromat is a couple of blocks from the quiet apartment community. Hekate set it up there because she knew that the neighbors would bring in the business which would make her front legit and useful.
“Thank you,” I say to the taxi driver, handing him several bills.
Not wanting to be seen by the laundromat’s customers, I walk behind the building to use the back door. I don’t allow myself to ponder about the reasons for it being massive and thick. The hair on my arms pricks up, some part of me reacting to the heavy protection spells around the building. Unfortunately, they don’t always work. Like the elements, so do the spells have their weak points.
“Good to see you again, Helia,” an old witch greets me when she opens the door.
“Jasmine!” I cry out. My lips curl up into a wide smile as I immediately recognize the grey-haired woman with a weathered face. Without hesitation, I rush forward to embrace her.
The old witch laughs, her arms wrapping around me. “You and your sister have come a long way.”
“That’s all Hekate,” I tell her, assuming that my sister’s the reason why Jasmine traveled here from India. I pull away to look her in the eyes, searching for a flicker of disappointment as I admit, “I spend most of my time working in the White Sparks Medical Center.”
To my surprise, Jasmine’s brown eyes soften, and she smiles. “Us witches are first and foremost healers. All the rest comes second.”
I don’t bother telling her that lately it’s been the other way around. She must’ve known it already, otherwise she wouldn’t have traveled all this way. The witches claim that the order needs to be restored before we can return to our origins. I’m afraid that after the war ends, we will be too far gone. Sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as the point of no return.
“Hekate told me to come,” I tell her, eager to see what my sister has to say, so I can return back to my life as a doctor.
“She’s on the second floor,” Jasmine says and closes the door, locking it tight. She leads me toward the stairwell, which despite her age, she ascends with surprising speed. “There’s a bit of a crowd up here, so don’t be alarmed.”
I nod, appreciating her warning. Though I know my sister is up to something, I have no idea just how much she’s achieved in a relatively short amount of time, which is why I stop in surprise when Jasmine opens the door at the end of the corridor.
The open space room is full of life, the crowd being a lot bigger than I expected. There are fifty-something people here, sitting in chairs that are all facing the same direction where a mock podium is. Seeing Hekate standing on it, addressing the crowd is the part that doesn’t surprise me at all.
“Most of you already know her, but for those that are new here, it’s my honor to introduce you to my twin sister Helia,” Hekate says the moment I enter the room as if she has planned it down to a second.
The entire room turns around in their seats, their eyes drilling into me. Hating the attention, I awkwardly lift my hand and wave.
The spotlight was always Hekate’s thing. She inherited all the charisma and the ability to charm just about anyone. Our parents knew it, which was why they took her to all the important events. They were grooming her as a leader, which was a job I never wanted, and was more than happy to let her have it.
“Come on up,” Hekate tells me, waving me over.
Though her smile is wide, her green eyes are just as cold and emotionless as ever. She’s a master at playing the game, her skills so great that she could’ve fooled even me if not for our twin bond.
Warning bells suddenly go off in my head. Everything has happened so fast that I didn’t have the time to consider why she has called me here. My entire body stiffens, horrified by the possibility that she has somehow found out about Grayden.
I press my lips together in silent determination, lift my chin up in defiance, and confidently walk to the podium. If there’s a punishment to be taken, I’ll accept it without a fight. While I’m not as weak as many might believe, I’ve also taken vows that are sacred to me. As a doctor, I have promised to myself and all the higher powers that listen, that I will do no harm.
When I reach her, Hekate opens her arms wide and gives me a sisterly hug with a kiss on my cheek. I force a smile on my face, not daring to be the one to ruin her show. She takes my hand into hers, presenting a united front in front of the crowd.
I take a good look at the witches. There are a lot of leaders from the covens all over the world here. Jasmine’s presence has already told me that. I have to admit that I’m impressed with Hekate’s achievement. Our parents had tried to bring the witches together, but throughout the centuries, there has simply been too much bad blood between the covens. It would seem that Hekate found a way to convince them to put that aside and focus on the bigger picture. The enemy is strong enough that it pushed the witches to do the impossible and form the ultimate alliance. The Ultra Coven.
“Before we take a break, I’ll leave you with this thought,” Hekate says to the crowd. “As a coven, we are a powerful force, but the wolves and their packs are trained to swiftly take us down before we can do too much damage. Think about what I said. Think about what we could do. The Ultra Coven would travel the world together to exterminate the wolves one by one until there were none left. We would put an end to the curse that should never have lasted that long in the first place.”
The room bursts into applause. Hekate has them wrapped around her finger, which means that the Ultra Coven is a serious possibility.
She tugs on my hand, guiding me to the corner for some privacy. Her security team approaches us, but Hekate waves them away.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Hekate tells me with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
I brace myself, waiting for her request. She never does anything without a reason, so I have to be here to fulfill some wicked plan of hers.
“This has to end now,” Hekate continues, and I furrow my brows in confusion. “You’re done playing a doctor. It’s time that you join us and help us defeat the wolves.”
“I will do no such thing,” I say firmly.
“Don’t you see that you’re embarrassing me?” Hekate hisses, her mask slipping for a quick second, but she quickly recovers and plants a smile on her face. “Witches from all over the world have come to join our cause. Have you considered how it looks when my own sister refuses?”
“I participate in earth and moon rituals to keep the coven strong,” I reply, fighting to keep my voice level. “I help heal the injured when the wounds are too complex. I come when you summon. I keep our secrets and I will continue to do so, but with certain limits. We’ve had this talk before. You agreed to it.”
“I only agreed to give you time to return to the fold of your own volition,” Hekate counters. “That time has run out. More good witches have died at wolves’ hands. You need to come back. Now.”
I narrow my eyes at my sister, taking in her mirror image that’s been darkened by the hate in her heart. When our parents died, she bleached her already blonde hair as if wanting to make sure that no one would ever mistake us again. It was only the first of the changes. With time, her green eyes, which are identical to mine, darkened. She lost all joy and emotion, turning into a scarier and more powerful version of the sister I grew up with. She’s a witch leader now, the Venerable Superior of the Ultra Coven in the making. Her charisma and charm got her this far, but it will be her ruthlessness that will help her keep the position.
“The answer is no,” I tell her again, keeping my head high with the confidence that I don’t feel. While I’m sad to hear about all the deaths, I also think that they could be avoided. There has to be a better way to do things.
Her jaw twitches and her smile falters, but she clears her throat, catching herself before she can make a scene in front of everyone. She slightly inclines her head, dismissing me.
Though I know better, I take a risk and turn my back on her. While I want to get out of here as fast as possible, I’m also aware of the role she has me playing, which is why I force myself to take slow, small steps and nod at the familiar faces as I pass them.
I might’ve gotten away this time, but I’m not a fool. Hekate will try again. She might even try to punish me for the way I’ve spoken to her. It won’t be easy, but I’ll have to stand firm and remind her that while she’s the coven’s leader, she’s not the boss of me. As long as I do my duties, which I did to the letter, she can’t make me do anything I don’t want to.
Or so I hope.
I don’t look over my shoulder as I leave the building although I can feel Hekate’s eyes on my back. The second-floor window gives her a perfect view of the path I’m on. I should call a taxi to take me home, but I need to walk off this excess of energy.
I’m only a couple of blocks away from the laundromat when my phone rings. I sigh and shake my head, my mind already preparing itself for another veiled argument with my sister.
“Grayden?” I answer, unable to hide the surprise to hear from him so soon.
“Where are you?” he asks, his voice frantic with urgency.
“Are you okay?” I ask, caught off guard by his tone. “What’s going on?”
“Where are you?” he repeats. “The pilot told me that you’re back in New York City.”
“If you already know that, then why did you call?”
“Stay away from your sister,” he warns, but his tone is the opposite of a threat. He’s afraid.
“Grayden, you’re scaring me,” I say quietly. “What’s going on?”
“The witches have made a mistake in trying to capture my brother, the Crown Prince himself. The wolves are planning an attack and I need you to be far away from your sister when the shit goes down,” Grayden tells me, the words bursting out of him in an unstoppable current.
My breath catches in my throat. This is really happening. I grew up with the stories about the war that was to come, but I never thought it would be fought in my lifetime.
“Helia?” Grayden urges with a pleading tone. “Promise me that you’ll stay away. Go to your apartment. Go to the hospital. Just be far enough away from your sister.”
I channel the skills I’ve picked up as an ER doctor. With an impressive strength of will, I force my head to calm, silencing the background noises. I clear my throat and summon the cold, neutral tone of a physician who knows how to stay cool under pressure.
“I appreciate the call, Grayden. I know how hard that must’ve been for you,” I tell him with a voice that doesn’t sound like mine. “I promise to stay away from danger.”
Grayden lets out a shaky breath of relief. “I have to go now. I’ll call you when I can.”
The call ends abruptly, but my inner doctor is still in control of the situation. I scroll through my call log and press on my sister’s name. Despite the way we’ve left things, she still picks up on the second ring, undoubtedly prioritizing me over her speech. I would be touched, but I know her too well.
“There’s no shame in changing your mind,” Hekate says as a way of greeting.
“The wolves know where you are,” I tell her, ignoring her arrogance. “They’re coming. You need to get out of there as soon as possible.”
“What?” she barks into the phone. “There’s no way you can know that.”
“For fuck’s sake, Hekate,” I hiss. “Will you for once pull your head out of your fucking ass and listen to me? They’re coming!”
Hekate’s silent for the longest of moments, no doubt thinking things through. When she finally speaks up, her tone is one of a leader. “How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“When will they get here?”
“I don’t know. Soon, I suppose.”
“You should come back and help us.”
I scoff and shake my head, fighting with the urge to go back to strangle her with my own bare hands. “I’ve warned you,” I tell her slowly. “What you do with the information is up to you. I hope that you’ll choose to save lives instead of sacrificing everyone.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Hekate says with a voice that makes it clear she has no intention of leaving. “I have to go now. There are calls to be made, things to set up, and strategy to discuss.”
“Hekate—”
“Don’t worry, little sis,” she says almost soothingly. “This won’t be the last you’ll hear from me.”
Hekate hangs up before I can get another word in. I can’t even decide whether the last part was meant to be a threat. I just hope she’ll heed my warning and save as many witches as possible.
I have to trust that she has a plan. I have to believe she won’t recklessly sacrifice our own people.
After a quick glance toward where the laundromat is, I begin walking in the opposite direction. I did what I could to warn them and now I have to keep my promise to Grayden. I call a taxi to get far away from here as quickly as possible.